Klopp and Mané Both Nominated for September Awards as Voting Opens

Photo by Alex Dodd - CameraSport via Getty Images

After a strong start to the Premier League, the Reds feature on both the Manager of the Month shortlist and in the Player of the Month nominations.

Liverpool have won their opening three matches as the Reds start the 2020/21 Premier League season at pace. Beyond just winning, Liverpool have spent an incredibly small amount of time on the losing end of a scoreline even within their matches: just 147 seconds between when Arsenal’s Alexandre Lacazette scored at Anfield and Sadio Mané’s equilizer.

In fact, Liverpool have been drawing for just 119 minutes, spending fewer minutes even with their opposition than they have spent in the lead, playing on three points for a total of 150 minutes. They have yet to go into halftime behind.

This dominance has been rewarded, as the Premier League announced today that manager Jürgen Klopp has been nominated for September’s Premier League Manager of the Month, an award he won five times in 2019/20 (before picking up the Premier League Manager of the Season award last season) and three additional times while at Liverpool. He’s up against Carlo Ancelotti (Everton, P3W3D0L0), Brendan Rodgers (Leicester, P3W3D0L0), and Dean Smith (Aston Villa, P2W2D0L0). You can vote for Klopp here.

Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images

Sadio Mané, too, has had a promising start to the season, and has been nominated for the EA Sports Premier League Player of the Month Award after starting all three matches and scoring three times (twice against Chelsea in the 0-2 win at Stamford Bridge, and once to start the scoring against Arsenal in the Premier League meeting).

You can vote for Mane here, after scrolling through loads of EA Sports promotional information about the players. Mané has won this award three times previously, all while at Liverpool (once in the 2016/17 season and twice last season).

Mané is up against a number of players who have started the season with similar promise: Patrick Bamford (Leeds), who has had a surprisingly positive start to his season, scoring three and assisting two as Leeds start the season with two wins and one loss (to Liverpool); Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), who has scored one and assisted two in his side’s perfect start to the campaign; Harry Kane (Tottenham) who has scored one and assisted five in Tottenham’s high scoring, if not high achieving, start to the season; Timothy Castagne (Leicester), a new arrival from Atalanta who has provided two assists and a goal (and a clean sheet) from Leicester’s defense; James Rodríguez (Everton), another new arrival who has added impetus to Everton’s midfield, along with a goal and an assist; and Jamie Vardy (Leicester) who has started his campaign to defend the Golden Boot with five goals in his opening three league matches.

Perhaps surprisingly, Mané is the only Liverpool player nominated for the award despite the team’s strong start to the season. Despite this, the field is deep, particularly with Everton and Leicester’s equally strong start to the 2020/21 campaign.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com